


Waiting

by KarainRed (orphan_account)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-13
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2017-12-29 06:51:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1002276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/KarainRed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nanaba wouldn't hold Mike's tardiness against him; the man always had a tendency to turn up eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting

"I'll wait here."

Nanaba smiled as he waved his companions onward. Rene hesitated to leave, but both Gerger and Henning hooked their arms in her elbows, tugging her away with them. Nanaba could hear Henning's voice as they walked away, bright and cheerful as he suggested that they "go and check on the kids".

The castle wall, crumbled and scattered across the courtyard, was low enough that Nanaba could easily sit atop a fragment of it. With the other three gone ahead, the decrepit castle fell into a silence broken only by the crackle of burning cloth. The source, a torch, flickered at Nanaba's side, the wood stuck firmly into cracks in the wall so that it could stand on its own. The warm light encircled him, chasing away the darkness as Nanaba idly nudged at a stray stone with the toe of his boot.

Each minute he waited ticked by slowly. It was as if time itself were mocking him, dragging minutes into hours and hours into days. The silence mocked him as well, mocked the fact that he still sat alone with two steaming mugs beside him. He remembered when he'd made them, insisting to the others that even Mike would have to be tired from holding off the titans that had caught them off guard. Guaranteeing their safe escape at least earned him a hot drink, didn't it?

Picking up one of the mugs, Nanaba held it in his hands, curling his fingers slightly as the warmth from the mug was transferred into his hands. He blew quietly at the steam rising upward, though he didn't take a drink. After a few moments, he set the mug down again.

He wasn't sure how long he waited, seated in the only circle of light within the gloomy atmosphere of the aged Castle Utgard, but the shuffle of boots on stone eventually caught his attention. He looked up with a smile, picking up the two hot drinks and moving to stand up. It was with a small frown that he noticed the steam no longer rose from the drinks and that the sky was lighter than it remembered it being. It was light enough that the sound of footsteps wasn't the only indicator to the squad leader's arrival, the tall figure easily visible picking his way over the rocks.

Nanaba found that he couldn't bring himself to worry about the drinks that had grown cold in his wait, stepping forward and calling out. "Thanks for your hard work, Mike! Would you like a drink?" He offered a mug when the man came close enough.

"I was hoping I wouldn't see you here." He took the mug from Nanaba, taking a deep swig from its contents. He didn't complain about the temperature.

Nanaba picked up the second mug from the wall. As he took a drink, he began to walk away from the still burning torch. He could hear Mike following. "Things happen, unfortunately. The others – Henning, Rene, and Gerger – were here too, but they went on ahead."

Mike nodded, taking another drink. "Some cake would have been nice. Remember that crumb cake Irvin picked up in the Interior?"

The comment felt... so out of place, with everything else, that Nanaba couldn't stop the laugh from escaping him. "With how long you took, I probably could have managed something."

Nanaba thought he caught the squad leader smiling around the rim of his cup, but the quirk of his lips was gone by the time he lowered his hands. "Thanks for waiting for me."

Nanaba laughed as they left Castle Utgard behind. "I'll always wait for you."


End file.
